Destroying the Cage - Jace and Clary
by ZCathie1998
Summary: ONE SHOT This is a very short piece about a encounter Jace and Clary have with Valentine. *I wrote this a few years ago, I apologise if it is a little juvenile! I think I set it after the first book... As I said I wrote it a while ago.
Mortal Instruments-Jace and Clary (Clace)

Jace ran through the alley, his heart pounding. The end of the alley loomed ahead of him and he cast his witchlight around. His eyes came to settle on a crumpled human shape in the corner. Jace sprinted toward it his heart racing, his thoughts swirling. He dropped down beside the figure and knew who it was before turning it over.

"Clary," he whispered. His hand flew to her wrist, she had no pulse. She wasn't breathing and she had no heart beat. "Clary, Clary!" he whispered frantically. He shook her viciously and shouted, "Wake up Clary, wake up!" Her body was lifeless in his arms. Tears spilled down his cheeks. "Wake up," he tried to yell but it came out choked.

"She's not going to wake up," said a voice as a man stepped out of the shadows.

"Valentine," Jace snarled. "Father, Jonathon," Valentine reminded him. "What have you done to Clary?" Jace said steadily trying to keep his quickly evaporating calmness.

"I killed her," Valentine said calmly. Jace stared, anger bubbled inside him.

"You lie," he hissed, his voice shaking. Valentine shook his head.

"I don't believe you," Jace repeated shakily. Jace turned to Clary again. "Come on Clary!" She still showed no signs of life.

"She's dead Jonathon," Valentine whispered. Jace sprang up at him.

"Why did you kill her," he yelled.

"Because I knew how much she meant to you. I thought maybe you'd want to follow her... into the next life," Valentine explained, eyes glinting. Jace could only stare. He checked her pulse one last time; to be sure she was dead.

"You're right," Jace whispered.

"I thought you could be in heaven together, in heaven and out of my way," Valentine said coldly. Jace nodded.

"I see, well you're right, life without Clary isn't worth living."

Clary stood there in her cage. She could see and hear Jace talking to Valentine but no one could see or hear her. Her insides were breaking. Jace was going to let Valentine kill him because Jace thought she was dead. Clary had tried every rune she could think of to break out of the invisible walls surrounding her but all failed dismally. She stared at what was supposedly her dead body. Then at Jace's angry tear stained face and Valentines calm but evil one, only a metre from Clary's cage. A cage Valentine had placed around her. "This cage cannot be penetrated," Clary remembered Valentine saying.

"Would you like me to kill you, or would you like to do it yourself?" Valentine was now saying.

"I'll do it myself," Jace spat angrily. "I don't want to give you the satisfaction of it," Jace added.

Valentine smirked, "I knew you'd say that," he said. Jace raised the blade Valentine has given him to his heart, his eyes on Clary's lifeless body.

"Just remember, 'To love is to destroy'," Valentine murmured. Jace looked at him quizzically.

"I know, you taught me that," Jace said hauntingly. "What's your point?" he asked as an afterthought.

"My point?" he sneered. "Your love for your sister is so strong that you're destroying yourself." Valentine explained. "To love is to destroy," he repeated.

Clary pressed her hand against the invisible barrier separating her from Jace and Valentine. She couldn't believe it, Valentine would not be responsible for any murders tonight because she was in fact not dead and Valentine had tricked Jace into committing suicide. For a moment Clary admired her father's evil cunningness, to get what he wanted with doing anything outside of the law. Valentine would simply release Clary and tell everyone Jace took his own life because he accidently mistook a girl's dead body to be Clary. If anyone asked Clary if he was telling the truth, she would have to say yes because technically he was. Anger rose within Clary before the words, 'To love is to destroy' formed in her mind. Suddenly she knew what to do. She hurriedly pulled out her stele and began to draw the rune for love on the cage wall. She focused all her energy into it. She finished the last line and stepped back. For a moment she thought nothing would happen and then the cage shattered and melted away. Clary's heart soared as she stepped over the melted cage.

"I hope you're happy Father," Jace spat as he measured the blade to his heart. Valentine nodded the greed obvious on his face, soon Jace would be dead and he believed Clary would be easy to manipulate into doing whatever he pleased. Then Clary stepped out from the shadows right behind Valentine.

"Jace, don't do it," she said steadily. Valentine whirled around and Jace dropped the blade.

"Clary," he said in disbelief.

"You!" Valentine said in rage.

"Me," Clary said menacingly.

"How... what... how did?" Valentine asked his voice trembling with anger.

"You told me," Clary confessed lightly.

Jace had silent tears streaming down his face. "Clary," he choked.

"I certainly did not tell you," Valentine said fiercely.

"Yes you did, you said, 'To love is to destroy' so I drew the love rune on the cage wall. I focused all my energy and love for Jace into it and the wall shattered and melted away," Clary smiled. Valentine stared in shock. Jace grinned.

"That's my Clary," he whispered.


End file.
